Bio-Techne $TECH up 20%; Merck agrees $11.3B cash deal

Bio-Techne $TECH rose about 20% to $70.70 on June 26 after Merck KGaA signed a cash deal to buy the Minneapolis life-sciences tools company for $73 a share, or about $11.3B in enterprise value. The price is 36% above Bio-Techne's one-month volume-weighted average trading price, according to the joint company release.

The transaction clears the crawler's Tier-1 M&A threshold because the agreed value is far above $500M and the target is a publicly traded S&P 500 supplier to biopharma, diagnostics, academic research, and cell-therapy manufacturing customers. Bio-Techne shareholders would receive cash rather than stock, while Merck plans to finance the acquisition with cash on hand and new debt while preserving an investment-grade credit rating.

The deal gives Merck a larger position in life-sciences workflows across multi-omics, spatial biology, protein analysis, analytical technologies, and consumables. Merck said Bio-Techne would add complementary assets across research, bioprocessing, and advanced therapeutics, with the combined platform expected to expand customer reach across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and other markets.

The financial case rests on scale and cost savings. Merck expects about EUR 140M of annual cost synergies by year 3 after closing, immediate EBITDA pre-margin accretion after the transaction closes, and EPS pre accretion by year 3. The release also says the transaction has been approved by Bio-Techne's board and Merck's relevant corporate bodies.

The next checkpoints are Bio-Techne shareholder approval, regulatory reviews, financing execution, and the closing window. The companies set the expected completion period at late 2026 or early 2027, which keeps deal-spread, antitrust, and integration risk in focus until approvals are secured.

Not investment advice. Verify all figures with primary sources before acting.